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Cast:
Jacky
Wu Jing
Miki
Yeung
Ronald
Cheng
Eddie
Cheung
Lam
Suet
Action:
Nicky
Li Chung-Chi
Writer:
Dennis
Law
Producer:
Charles
Heung
Dennis
Law
Paco
Wong
Herman
Yau
Director:
Dennis
Law
Score:
  
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FATAL
CONTACT
AKA:
Underground Fist
Year:
2006 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
Jacky Wu Jing has been
working in Hong Kong cinema for over ten
years now but despite a number of leading roles, he has never managed to find that one
project that will allow him to break into the big time.
That could all be about to change though after his eye catching duel with Donnie Yen in
'SPL' earned
him some serious recognition as well as the leading role in the martial arts extravaganza 'Fatal
Contact'. Could this finally be the elusive hit that Wu Jing has desperately been searching
for?
Kong
(Jing) is a national martial arts champion who is taking a
break from competitions to tour with a Chinese Opera troupe in
Hong Kong. Whilst there, he is approached by a
small-time crook who is looking for new and talented fighters
to enter his underground all-contact boxing arena.
Although it goes against all of Kong's principals, he is
eventually persuaded to join so that he can raise some
much-needed cash for both himself and the girl he is
interested in. With Kong on board, this small operation
starts to grow as he wins fight after fight in spectacular
style, making the cash come rolling in for all
concerned. However, it isn't long before a rival gang
boss appears on the scene wanting a slice of the action and
this means new and meaner opponents for Kong to fight.
With this supposed sideline spiralling out of control, Kong
begins to wonder if he is doing the right thing and if it's
time to get out before he winds up dead.
When
the trailer for 'Fatal Contact' first materialised, the film
just seemed to ooze promise as it showcased a number of enticing
looking action sequences set against the intriguing backdrop
of an underground fighting arena. Sadly though, rather
than being the holy grail of Wu Jing movies, 'Fatal Contact'
boils down to nothing more than a handful of average fight
scenes strung together by a poor excuse for a love
story. Clocking in at a bloated hour and 40 minutes, the
film makes no valid attempts at establishing a solid reason
behind Jing's need to fight before proceeding
to fill in the gaps with an awkward romantic sub-plot. This
lightweight approach is further
hampered by the fact that Jing and co-star Miki Yeung show no real signs of
chemistry and Yeung's character is such an annoying busybody
that one wonders how any man could possibly fall for
her. In fact, the movie's only real saving grace comes from
the pairing of Jing and Ronald Cheng who share some of the film's
brighter moments but even this is spoilt as Cheng goes strangely AWOL for the film's
closing act. As a final nail in the coffin, 'Fatal Contact' then
makes the calamitous mistakes of choosing not to end the
film with a final bout of combat, instead opting for an
attempted tug at the heart
strings accompanied by an extremely predictable plot twist. By
this stage though, we all know and care so little about the leads that
no one really gives a squat when Law finally attempts to
inject some emotion into the piece and provide a moral to this
utterly pointless story.
For
the film's crucial action sequences, 'Fatal Contact' serves up
another huge slice of mediocrity as Nicky Li puts together
some very lazy and lacklustre choreography. The majority of the duels consist of
nothing more than a few specific punches and kicks,
demonstrated over and over again before Jing finally
despatches of his opponent with one last supposedly flashy wire-assisted kick.
Now don't get me wrong, you could do a lot worse as the camera
angles are decent and the editing isn't all quick cuts but
when you have a talent like Wu Jing on board, it just seems
inexcusable that the fights are so utterly uninspiring.
As if this wasn't bad enough, the lack of any kind of final
duel means the audience's last taste of action is a clear 20
minutes before the finale, making the fights feel like more of
a
footnote to the movie which seems ludicrous considering they
are the film's main drive.
Going
into this movie I really wanted to enjoy it, if only because I
think Wu Jing is a sadly underrated actor, but unfortunately
it is just so frustratingly average that it is unlikely to
satisfy the majority of viewers. Like most martial arts
movies to emerge out of Hong Kong in the last few years, there
are flashes of the talent involved but it's not nearly as
entertaining as it could have been.
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